The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to imaging systems, and more particularly to imaging detectors and methods for image detection.
Imaging systems are widely used to capture images of objects. For example, diagnostic images of a person or an animal may be obtained to assist a doctor or other health care professional in making an accurate diagnosis. Another example includes imaging luggage, shipping containers, and/or the like for security and/or industrial inspection applications. Imaging systems often include an energy source and one or more detectors. Energy, for example x-rays, produced by the source travel through the object being imaged and are detected by the detector(s). An associated control system obtains image data from the detector(s) and prepares a corresponding image for display.
The detectors of at least some known imaging systems include a scintillator, a photosensor array, and an optical coupler that optically couples the scintillator to the photosensor array. The scintillator receives energy emitted by the source that has traveled through the object and emits light in response thereto. The light emitted by the scintillator is directed to the photosensor array by the optical coupler. The photosensor array includes individual photosensors, for example photodiodes, that correspond to individual pixels of the resulting image. The photosensors absorb the light emitted by the scintillator and generate electrical signals that correspond to the absorbed light and are used to create the pixels of the resulting image. However, the photosensors of at least some known photosensor arrays are closely positioned together, which can cause optical and/or electrical cross talk between neighboring photosensors within the array. The optical and/or electrical crosstalk between neighboring photosensors may cause system noise, thereby resulting in a lower quality image.